Eastern Bank Limited (EBL) Chairman Md Showkat Ali Chowdhury is facing mounting scrutiny after bank records, customs filings and overseas official documents pointed to a series of questionable practices, raising serious concerns about financial oversight and corporate governance.
The documents indicate irregular loan practices, preferential treatment of defaulters and unexplained foreign links involving the bank’s chairman.
A review of records by TIMES of Bangladesh shows that Showkat Chowdhury is accused of using an “industrial loan” facility to import a luxury vehicle duty-free, maintaining large defaulted loan exposures as “regular”, and sharing an overseas address with a fugitive convicted money launderer who is also an EBL loan defaulter.
The findings, drawn from bank records, loan-classification data, customs documents and foreign land registry filings, suggest the issues go beyond isolated lapses and point to deeper questions over the exercise of banking authority and the effectiveness of regulatory enforcement.
According to the documents, EBL approved an “industrial loan” in 2016 in the name of A&B Outwear Limited, owned by EBL client and top loan defaulter Nazmul Abedin. Using the proceeds of that loan, a brand-new Mercedes-Benz AMG G-63 was imported on 28 August 2016 under the bond facility of the Chattogram Export Processing Zone (CEPZ), allowing the vehicle to enter the country duty-free.
The Bill of Entry lists the industrial company as the importer.
However, documents and on-the-ground findings indicate that the vehicle was never used for any industrial or production-related purpose.
According to two former customs officials familiar with CEPZ bond monitoring and a senior banker with knowledge of the case, from the time of import the vehicle was used for the personal and family needs of the EBL chairman. In particular, his son Zaran Ali Chowdhury regularly used the car.
The investigation further found that the vehicle, brought in under the bond facility, continued to operate with a fake number plate until 2020, effectively avoiding registration and duties.
After images and details of the vehicle surfaced on social media, it was hurriedly registered in the company’s name—a move that officials familiar with bond regulations say contradicts the core conditions of the bond law, which restrict duty-free imports strictly to industrial use.
On 23 March 2022, the luxury Mercedes jeep was seized during a joint administrative drive. The Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority has since kept the vehicle in a garage inside the Chattogram Export Processing Zone area.
The sequence of events surrounding the vehicle overlaps with loan-classification decisions taken by the bank, raising questions about preferential treatment. Documents show that EBL has outstanding dues of approximately Tk99 crore from Multi Saf Bags Limited, another company owned by Nazmul Abedin.
Under Bangladesh Bank’s loan-classification guidelines, the exposure should have been classified as non-performing. However, records show the loan was instead kept “regular” (unclassified) through artificial classification.
Bangladesh Bank Spokesperson Arief Hossain Khan said such practices obscure a bank’s true asset quality and directly expose depositors’ funds to heightened risk.
Nazmul Abedin is listed as an accused in pending cases filed by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Customs on charges of money laundering and duty evasion, with official records showing allegations of around Tk222 crore in customs evasion.
Despite this status, the continuation of banking facilities has raised serious questions about conflicts of interest and governance failures within the Eastern Bank.
The paper trail does not end with loan approvals or classification decisions. As the investigation followed the ownership and control of borrower companies, a broader pattern began to emerge—one that links lending decisions to shareholder structures, personal relationships and, ultimately, overseas records. That shift in focus reveals how the financial exposure inside the bank intersects with corporate ownership and foreign links beyond it.
The investigation found that the relationship between the bank chairman and loan-defaulting businesses was not limited to lending. Corporate records show that individuals described as close associates of Showkat Ali Chowdhury appeared in the shareholder lists of Multi Saf Limited, the Tk99-crore defaulting entity.
Records show that the chairman’s childhood friend Helal Uddin Ahmed and close associate Tazwar Firoz Haque held shares in the company at different times. In addition, Farahnaz Haque, the wife of Tazwar Firoz Haque, was a founding shareholder of Multi Saf.
Investigative sources including Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) and Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) officials allege that Farahnaz Haque’s shareholding functioned as a “cover”, citing documented patterns of shareholding changes, the timing of entries and exits, and the company’s operational links to individuals closely associated with the EBL chairman.
According to these sources, the arrangement raises questions about whether effective control of the company rested elsewhere, despite the formal shareholder structure.
The questions extend beyond domestic records when overseas filings are examined. While Nazmul Abedin presented himself as a British investor, multiple sources allege that Showkat Ali Chowdhury transferred substantial sums to the British Virgin Islands, Singapore and Dubai. On that basis, ACC investigators have raised questions over whether Abedin acted as a front and whether the investments were transferred out of Bangladesh.
The questions gained further weight after a review of documents from the Singapore Land Authority (SLA). Official records show that Showkat Ali Chowdhury and his wife, Tashmia Ambarin, registered property in Singapore using the same address as Mujibur Rahman Millon—a fugitive convicted of money laundering, sentenced to life imprisonment for embezzling Tk1,500 crore, and listed as an EBL loan defaulter. The shared address is recorded as 120 Lower Delta Road, #11-09, Cendex Centre, Singapore.
TIMES investigation found that Showkat Ali Chowdhury siphoned off millions through a network of offshore entities registered in the British Virgin Islands, structured as a shell company arrangement. The same records indicate that Mujibur Rahman Millon, a Singapore-based ship broker, was directly involved in facilitating elements of this offshore structure. Multiple sources familiar with both Millon and Showkat also confirmed that matter.
Banking sector experts said it is unprecedented for a sitting bank chairman to use the office or address of a fugitive defaulter from his own institution. In their view, such overlap goes beyond personal association and points to potential collusion in illicit financial flows.
Questions have also arisen over regulatory oversight. The ACC sought all bank and loan account details of Showkat Ali Chowdhury, his family members and related interests. According to ACC sources, Eastern Bank has not supplied the information even after nearly one and a half months, despite a formal request.
TIMES of Bangladesh sought comment from Eastern Bank Chairman Showkat Ali Chowdhury, Managing Director Ali Reza Iftekhar and several other bank officials on the allegations and findings outlined in the report, but they declined to comment.
